Testers Needed for MP3 problem.

[PyTom]

Okay, we (mikey and I... with mikey doing most of the work) have put together a test case for the problems he's been experiencing with mp3s. The test case takes the form of a small Ren'Py game, which can be downloaded from:

http://www.bishoujo.us/tmp/crashme.zip

To use the test case, please unzip it, run run_game.exe, play the game through once, and then roll back and forth many (>50) times. The problem manifests itself by Ren'Py freezing.

Apparently, the problem manifests consistently on mikey's system, but I haven't been able to make it manifest on either of my machines. I'm interested in finding out how widespread the problem is, and seeing if I can find anything in common among the machines that exhibit the problem.

Please try the test for a while, as the bug exhibits itself somewhat sporadically. If you were able to make the bug manifest, let me know. (Debugging dumps, debugger output, tracebacks, etc are very helpful, but even knowing that you were able to repeat the bug is important to isolating the problem.) If you were unable to make the bug manifest after a bit of trying, also let me know, as this may mean the bug is isolated to a few machines.

This has been driving me crazy for the past week or two (and it has also been annoying mikey as well), so I really ask that people who are even casually into Ren'Py devote some of their time into helping us fix this problem.

Thank you in advance.

- A Slightly frazzled PyTom.

[mikey]

Apparently, the problem manifests consistently on mikey's system, but I haven't been able to make it manifest on either of my machines.

The problem was tested thoroughly with my two computers, on both of which I can crash the game.

In other news, just a few minutes ago, I was able to crash the game on yet another computer, Kathryn's laptop, which is almost factory-new with up-to date antivirus and no internet connection. I did this on my very first try, I started the game and after just a few clicks, the game froze.

[denzil]

I hadn't any problems. Tested on two computers and 3 soundcards. Both computers have Win XP pro SP1. I also tried to turn of hardware acceleration for one of soundcards.

[mikey]

We were discussing the option of my room being cursed. Again, sometimes it takes as much as 50 times going up and down, even restarts.

What I do now is click through the game once, which allows me to use CTRL, and since the game loops, I just put a stone on the CTRL key, go and get some ice from the fridge, making myself something cool to drink, and by the time I get back, it's usually frozen.

[denzil]

Well, I tried that ctrl thing for about 15 minutes...
PyTom probably asked you this but...:
Do you have Win XP SP2 on all computers?
Did you tried disabling hw acceleration for soundcard (Start, Run, dxdiag, sound tab)?

[mikey]

Okay, so... let's take this one step at a time:

"Onyx" - Pentium IV, 2,8 GHz, 512 RAM (single), GeForce 4 MX 4000, internet, WinXP SP2, onboard sound AC97
"Mayako" Pentium IV, 3GHZ, 512 RAM (double), Radeon 9800 Pro, WinXP SP1, onboard sound AC97. This is my working computer.
"KAcer"... notebook, I'll update the specs when I'll get my hands on it.

I'll try to tamper with the dxdiag sound settings to see if the problem goes away when I disable it. Both Mayako and Onyx have had full acceleration so far.

[denzil]

Could you look also at driver in dxdiag (same tab)?

[mikey]

With the hardware acceleration disabled, it still crashes on Mayako and Onyx.

Mayako's driver info:

Code: Select all

            Description: SoundMAX Digital Audio (emulated)
 Default Sound Playback: Yes
 Default Voice Playback: Yes
            Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24D5&SUBSYS_81521043&REV_02
        Manufacturer ID: 65535
             Product ID: 65535
                   Type: Emulated
            Driver Name: 
         Driver Version: 
      Driver Attributes: 
            WHQL Logo'd: 
          Date and Size: 
            Other Files: 
        Driver Provider: Analog Devices
         HW Accel Level: Emulation Only
              Cap Flags: 0x2F
    Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 100000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0
 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
              HW Memory: 0
       Voice Management: No
 EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
               Registry: OK
      Sound Test Result: Not run

Onyx's driver info

Code: Select all

            Description: Realtek AC97 Audio
 Default Sound Playback: Yes
 Default Voice Playback: Yes
            Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24D5&SUBSYS_00801462&REV_02
        Manufacturer ID: 65535
             Product ID: 65535
                   Type: WDM
            Driver Name: ALCXWDM.SYS
         Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5370 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
            WHQL Logo'd: Yes
          Date and Size: 11/13/2003 15:05:36, 481596 bytes
            Other Files: 
        Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
         HW Accel Level: Full
              Cap Flags: 0xF5F
    Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 192000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 33, 32
 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 33, 32
              HW Memory: 0
       Voice Management: Yes
 EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
               Registry: OK
      Sound Test Result: Not run

[denzil]

Okay so it probably isn't hardware or driver...
Now what program is running and might be using soundcard on all three computers?
Process Explorer might be useful in finding that. You might also try closing everything you dont really need.
Edit:
And if you use Process Explorer for killing precesses kill only the ones bellow explorer.exe (and save work before doing that).

[mikey]

Actually, I keep Mayako extremely clean. I was able to crash it with these running:

Code: Select all

Process	PID	CPU	Description	Company Name
System Idle Process	0	98.44		
 Interrupts	n/a		Hardware Interrupts	
 DPCs	n/a		Deferred Procedure Calls	
 System	4			
  SMSS.EXE	412		Windows NT Session Manager	Microsoft Corporation
   CSRSS.EXE	472		Client Server Runtime Process	Microsoft Corporation
   WINLOGON.EXE	500		Windows NT Logon Application	Microsoft Corporation
    SERVICES.EXE	544		Services and Controller app	Microsoft Corporation
     ATI2EVXX.EXE	716		ATI External Event Utility EXE Module	ATI Technologies Inc.
     SVCHOST.EXE	760		Generic Host Process for Win32 Services	Microsoft Corporation
     SVCHOST.EXE	808		Generic Host Process for Win32 Services	Microsoft Corporation
     SVCHOST.EXE	872		Generic Host Process for Win32 Services	Microsoft Corporation
     SVCHOST.EXE	896		Generic Host Process for Win32 Services	Microsoft Corporation
     SPOOLSV.EXE	1064		Spooler SubSystem App	Microsoft Corporation
     MDM.EXE	1312		Machine Debug Manager	Microsoft Corporation
     SMAgent.exe	1388		SoundMAX service agent component	Analog Devices, Inc.
    LSASS.EXE	556	0.78	LSA Shell (Export Version)	Microsoft Corporation
    ATI2EVXX.EXE	1568		ATI External Event Utility EXE Module	ATI Technologies Inc.
EXPLORER.EXE	1644		Windows Explorer	Microsoft Corporation
 CTFMON.EXE	1876		CTF Loader	Microsoft Corporation
 procexp.exe	1444	0.78	Sysinternals Process Explorer	Sysinternals

This is after I killed the things that are usually running, which are:

Code: Select all

     EXPLORER.EXE	1644		Windows Explorer	Microsoft Corporation
      SMax4PNP.exe	1832		SMax4PNP MFC Application	Analog Devices, Inc.
      SMax4.exe	1840		SoundMAX Control Center	Analog Devices, Inc.
      DAEMON.EXE	1852		Virtual DAEMON Manager	DAEMON'S HOME
      CTFMON.EXE	1868		CTF Loader	Microsoft Corporation
      procexp.exe	360		Sysinternals Process Explorer	Sysinternals

So it's hard for me to see what could possibly cause it. The only thing below explorer that both computers have the same is indeed CTFMON.EXE. Just for making things complete...
Onyx's standard processes:

Code: Select all

Process	PID	CPU	Description	Company Name
System Idle Process	0	98.44		
 Interrupts	n/a		Hardware Interrupts	
 DPCs	n/a		Deferred Procedure Calls	
 System	4			
  smss.exe	512		Windows NT Session Manager	Microsoft Corporation
   csrss.exe	560		Client Server Runtime Process	Microsoft Corporation
   winlogon.exe	584		Windows NT Logon Application	Microsoft Corporation
    services.exe	628		Services and Controller app	Microsoft Corporation
     svchost.exe	804		Generic Host Process for Win32 Services	Microsoft Corporation
     svchost.exe	872		Generic Host Process for Win32 Services	Microsoft Corporation
     svchost.exe	952		Generic Host Process for Win32 Services	Microsoft Corporation
     svchost.exe	1048		Generic Host Process for Win32 Services	Microsoft Corporation
     svchost.exe	1096		Generic Host Process for Win32 Services	Microsoft Corporation
     spoolsv.exe	1344		Spooler SubSystem App	Microsoft Corporation
     MDM.EXE	1520		Machine Debug Manager	Microsoft Corporation
     nod32krn.exe	1560		NOD32 Kernel Service	Eset 
     nvsvc32.exe	1576		NVIDIA Driver Helper Service, Version 53.03	NVIDIA Corporation
     wdfmgr.exe	1720		Windows User Mode Driver Manager	Microsoft Corporation
     alg.exe	1972		Application Layer Gateway Service	Microsoft Corporation
    lsass.exe	640		LSA Shell (Export Version)	Microsoft Corporation
explorer.exe	832		Windows Explorer	Microsoft Corporation
 nod32kui.exe	248		NOD32 Control Center GUI	Eset 
 soundman.exe	288		Realtek Sound Manager	Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
 jusched.exe	304			
 issch.exe	376		InstallShield Update Service Scheduler	InstallShield Software Corporation
 Update.exe	404			
 ctfmon.exe	360		CTF Loader	Microsoft Corporation
 SpySweeper.exe	772		Spy Sweeper	Webroot Software, Inc.

[denzil]

You could try disabling Microsoft Machine Debug Manager (mdm.exe) in Services Control Panel (Stop the service, then set it to 'manual' instead of 'automatic')
---
I don't know how it is in english Windows so:
Pravé tlačítko na Tento počítač, Spravovat, Služby a aplikace, Služby a tam přepnout Microsoft Machine Debug Manager (mdm.exe) z automaticky na ručně a zastavit službu.

[mikey]

Thanks, I'll try this on Mayako then. But I do have English Win on all the computers. I'm not being truly patriotic.

BTW, 50 posts, you've gone up a rank ^_^

EDIT: On the downside, switching to manual and disabling hasn't stopped the game from crashing.
EDIT 2: And it crashes on Onyx as well.

[Jake]

For what it's worth, eighty or so mousewheel-up, clicks over the transition didn't crash it, thirty or so mousewheel-up, Ctrls didn't crash it, and leaving it running through the entire thing on skip mode as mikey suggested for about twenty minutes while I read comics to the sound of "buh-..bee-..buh-..bee-.." didn't crash it. I'm on a P4, WinXP Pro SP2, Creative SB Live! Value soundcard.

Since it hasn't been brought up before, though, this does remind me of a problem I had a while back on a previous computer. You mention all the computers you're having problems with have onboard sound, mikey - are you sure that the PCs aren't just overheating? It is the height of summer, after all, and pretty much everywhere seems to be complaining that it's a particuarly hot one... I guess one question is, if you play some other sound in another process at the same time, does it also hang when Ren'Py does?

[mikey]

Well, sometimes it's better to restart Ren'Py and try crashing again, but... I don't know, this is starting to get freaky.

The thing about overheating is partially true, the room is very hot, no AC or anything, but we are cooling the computers with fans and it works fine, IMO.

I'll just note that with OGGs, the game never crashes for me under the same circumstances. It only does that with MP3s - and we've tried various ones, different quality, bitrate everything.

[denzil]

disabled or stopped the service?
Well, I'm running out of ideas. You can try update drivers (or if possible try microsoft drivers) or try running Ren'Py in Windows in W98 compatibility mode.